'Grey's Anatomy' 's Kelly McCreary Believes 'Anything is Possible' for Maggie and Winston amid Move to Chicago

Kelly McCreary says "the door is still open" for a future between her character Maggie and husband Winston (Anthony Hill) on Grey’s Anatomy

This post contains spoilers from Thursday's episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Maggie Pierce bid farewell to Grey Sloan Memorial on Thursday's Grey's Anatomy but there may still be hope for her and husband Winston Ndugu.

Kelly McCreary exclusively tells PEOPLE that "the door is still open" for a future between the pair as Maggie moves to Chicago and Winston (Anthony Hill) stays in Seattle.

"They didn't leave a lot of wreckage and poison in their wake. They reconciled. They had an understanding," McCreary, 41, shares of the couple's final conversation ahead of her move. "They came to really empathize with one another and both feel heartbroken over it. So I think that there's potential."

She adds: "At the very least, there's potential for them to work together again. And beyond that I think anything is possible."

Related:Kelly McCreary to Exit Grey's Anatomy After 9 Seasons

McCreary — who ended her nine season run as a series regular on Grey's Anatomy with Thursday's episode — admits she is "grateful" how the couple's relationship concluded.

She believes they were able to have "a respectful, loving separation" without "discord and anger between them."

"And that's what makes it sadder, right? It's like you want them to work it out, but you also want her to do what she's got to do," she shares.

Related:Grey's Anatomy's Kelly McCreary Says There Is Still 'a Lot of Love' Between Maggie and Winston

Following their marriage struggles throughout season 19, the pair's relationship ended with Maggie telling Winston that she needed to accept the job in Chicago after seeing how her birth mother Ellis Grey (Kate Burton) and adoptive mother Diane Pierce (LaTanya Richardson Jackson) stayed with their husbands longer than they should have.

"They didn't follow their hearts, they didn't follow their guts, they didn't bet on themselves. They stayed to keep the peace. They stayed to keep other people happy," she said. "My heart is in my work, Winston."

She added: "I don't think I'm cold and I don't think you're a coward… I think we did the best we could and that neither of us is to blame. I love you but I have to go."

He responded: "I love you too and I have to stay."

Related:Grey's Anatomy: Maggie Pierce Makes a Major Decision as Miranda Bailey Faces a New Threat

Prior to the split, the pair performed one final surgery together which led them to sleep together before her move. McCreary admits that the storyline was "surprising" but also "made perfect sense."

"It's like, yes, this is what lights her up. This is how they came together," she says. "They came together at a medical conference because they were both super nerding out. And here they are years into their relationship closer than ever, and then they get to have yet another triumph. Of course, it would be the thing that ignites their passion again."

"And the other thing that I loved about that was that it says that it's not all bad between them. It's like, you don't have to throw away the baby with the bath water. There is some good here. Let's acknowledge that," she adds. "We don't have to paint the fact that they're separating with the broadly negative brush. They're separating, there's good between them, but they just don't want the same things right now."

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Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

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